How Israel Took Out Hezbollah Terrorist Leader Hassan Nasrallah

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed inside the terrorist group's own secret underground 'war operations room' by an Israeli air strike, official reveals

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike last year while inside the militant group's war operations room, according to new details disclosed by a senior official.

A series of Israeli air strikes flattened several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, killing Nasrallah. The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people died.

According to news reports, Nasrallah, who had led Hezbollah for 32 years, and other senior officials were meeting underground.

'His Eminence (Hassan Nasrallah) used to lead the battle and war from this location,' top Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa told a news conference on Sunday near the site where Nasrallah was killed.

He said Nasrallah died in the war operations room. He did not offer other details.

Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in strikes on Beirut at the end of September

Nasrallah died in the assault, that saw Israeli F-15I fighter jets drop dozens of munitions on the Hezbollah HQ in Beirut on September 27

The site of an impact crater following Israel's attack on Hezbollah HQ in Dahiyeh, Beirut

A view of the damage occurring in the surrounding buildings

Nasrallah's body was recovered intact from beneath the remains of the building. In total more than 20 ­Hezbollah members were killed by the Israeli Air Force.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14252003/Hezbollah-leader-killed-secret-war-operations-room.html

Israel's assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with US-made bunker-busting bombs came as the result of a critical intelligence breach amid decades of infiltration of Iranian and Lebanese militant command structures, it is claimed.

Nasrallah died in the attack, that saw Israeli F-15I fighter jets drop dozens of munitions on the Hezbollah HQ in Beirut - a rapid succession of strikes dubbed 'Operation New Order' that eliminated half of Hezbollah's leadership council and decimated its top military command.

Expert analysts said the F-15s delivered 2000lb Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) that are designed to penetrate deep into their targets before exploding, allowing Israel's air force to eliminate Nasrallah even as he hid in an underground bunker some 60 feet beneath Beirut's Dahiyeh suburb.

One security source told Reuters that Israel had spent 20 years focusing intelligence efforts on Hezbollah so it could hit Nasrallah when it wanted, adding that the quality of the information Israeli military chiefs had received was 'brilliant'.

Meanwhile, another source told the  French press that Nasrallah's arrival at Hezbollah HQ was leaked to the IDF by an Iranian mole.

An F-15I fighter jet of the IAF's 69th Squadron takes off from the Hatzerim Airbase in southern Israel to carry out a strike in Beirut against Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, September 27, 2024

Security-conscious Nasrallah had long avoided public appearances for fear of assassination, remaining largely hidden from view since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.

His movements were heavily restricted and only known to a select few members of his trusted military commanders, while the circle of people he saw in person was very small, according to a source familiar with Nasrallah's security arrangements.

The Israeli attack came barely a week after the deadly detonation of thousands of booby-trapped Hezbollah pagers and hundreds of radios which killed dozens of Hezbollah terrorists and left thousands injured.

Since the September 17 pager blasts that injured thousands of his terrorists, the Hezbollah chief had become even more vigilant.

Nasrallah chose to skip the funeral of one of his trusted commanders and began releasing pre-recorded speeches rather than going live on air.

But no amount of security precautions would have prevented Israel's air force from wiping their adversary out in his own backyard after IDF chiefs received 'real-time intelligence that Nasrallah was gathering with many senior terrorists', Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said. 

Several security sources in Lebanon declared Nasrallah's assassination meant Israel must have successfully penetrated the upper echelons of Hezbollah's command structure with covert operatives and informants that were able to leak details of his movements to the IDF.

Military historian and analyst Michel Goya posited that the pager and radio attack was an instrumental step in the hunt for Nasrallah.

By crippling the group's means of secure communication, several members of Hezbollah's leadership were 'forced to meet in person' in the group's headquarters, he said - something that security concerns would typically never permit.

But once the senior members were confirmed to be in the same location, someone had to alert the Israeli military so Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could authorise the strike.

'This is a massive blow and intelligence failure for Hezbollah,' Magnus Ranstorp, a veteran Hezbollah expert at the Swedish Defence University.

'They knew that he was meeting. He was meeting with other commanders. And they just went for him.'

A Lebanese security source informed Le Parisien that an Iranian mole was responsible for leaking the information to Israel.

'Israel clearly infiltrated Hezbollah at highly sensitive and consequential levels, killing senior command networks with airstrikes, paralysing its communication and coordination capacity, and grinding the organisation down, denying it time to recover and regroup thus far,' RUSI's Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security, Dr Burcu Ozcelik said.

'This has been the culmination of years of complex, synchronised intelligence-gathering in the Israeli security establishment since before 2006.'

Israel's Air Force released images of the F-15I jets used to carry out the strike on Nasrallah

Upon Netanyahu's order, a flight of F-15I fighter jets from the 69th Squadron of the IAF took off from the Hatzerim Airbase in southern Israel and headed for Beirut

Rescuers pulled out bodies from the rubble with winches, such was the depth of the craters

Smoke rises from the surrounding buildings following the strike on the Dahiyeh area in Beirut

Upon Netanyahu's order, a flight of F-15I fighter jets from the 69th Squadron of the IAF took off from the Hatzerim Airbase in southern Israel, completing the cross-country flight in a matter of minutes before soaring over the Lebanese border and bearing down on Beirut.

Images and videos of their take-off released by the IAF enabled military aviation experts to determine the kinds of munitions that were able to successfully target Nasrallah in his underground HQ.

The F-15s appeared to deploy devastating 2000lb US-made 'bunker buster' munitions - the GBU-31(V)3/B JDAM - which are designed to penetrate deep into hardened targets before detonating their high explosives for maximum effect.

The precision-guided bombs find their target with pinpoint accuracy, while the sheer weight of the weapon, reinforced with a thick steel casing, sees it smash through layers of earth and concrete.

Once inside, the delayed fuse triggers the explosion, leaving its helpless targets with no escape.

Brigadier General Amichai Levin, commander of Israel's Hatzerim Airbase, said that all the bombs hit the target in a matter of seconds, and shocking videos and images from the blast site served as a testament to the fearsome power of the JDAMS.

The munitions destroyed three of four buildings that were located above the Hezbollah HQ in Dahiyeh and left enormous craters in the reddish-brown earth.

'Dozens of munitions hit the target within seconds with very high precision, and this is part of what is required to hit underground sites at this depth,' Levin declared.

Twisted metal rods were seen poking out of the remnants of reinforced concrete structures as rescuers pulled out bodies from the rubble with winches, such was the depth of the craters.

Nasrallah's body was reportedly recovered intact this weekend, suggesting that he may have died from the sheer force of the blasts, or suffocated after being trapped underground.  

The Israeli Lieutenant Colonel who commands the 69th Squadron, known only as 'Mem', gave few details other than to declare the strike on Nasrallah proceeded 'smoothly'.

'We went to strike in the heart of Beirut, in the Dahiyeh. We knew who we wanted to target,' he said.

But IDF chief Herzi Halevi told the Jerusalem Post that the strike had been a long time in the making, suggesting the air force was waiting for final confirmation of Nasrallah's whereabouts before the attack.

'This strike had been planned for a long time and was executed at the right time, with precision,' Halevi said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13906543/Israel-assassination-Hassan-Nasrallah-strike-Hezbollahs-lair-Beirut-Iranian-mole-bunker-busters.html

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Grounded

Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight Grounded over Health and safety concerns

For almost seven decades, it was a staple of the British summer, a reminder of the nation's enduring debt to the Royal Air Force pilots who fended off Adolf Hitler's Luftwaffe as the heavens blazed over southern England in 1940.

But aviation experts fear the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a series of annual displays honouring those who died in the pivotal conflict, may never again take to the skies.

The BBMF fleet – which includes Spitfires, Hurricanes and a Lancaster Bomber – has been grounded since late May, when an RAF pilot, Squadron Leader Mark Long, was killed in a Spitfire crash in Lincolnshire.

In response to the tragedy, which is the subject of an ongoing inquiry, the RAF immediately announced a 'temporary pause in flying for the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight'.

The suspension prevented the aircraft from featuring in summer events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the 75th birthday of King Charles III

Experts fear a risk-averse culture in the Ministry of Defence may be to blame.

'It worries me that the aircraft in the fleet have been grounded for a long time,' says Terry Holloway, a retired RAF group captain and former BBMF engineering officer.

'It worries me that the Ministry of Defence, like a lot of society today, is highly risk-averse.

The Royal Air Force has grounded the entire fleet of second world war aircraft involved in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

A Spitfire MkXVI TE311, which is part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. After a major service, the plane was ready to return to the skies this year before the fleet was grounded 

Aviation experts are now fearful that the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which was inaugurated on 11 July 1957 at RAF Biggin Hill, may never fly again

Holloway acknowledges the need for a proper inquiry, but says he is puzzled by the length of time it has taken. He recalls the swift remedial action taken after engine failure caused a Hurricane LF63 to crash on 11 September 1991.

Although the pilot, Squadron Leader Allan Martin, amazingly escaped with only a broken ankle and minor burns, the aircraft itself was gutted by fire. Despite the damage, camshaft failure was quickly identified as the source of the problem and, within a fortnight, the planes returned to the skies.

'Whether it's a historic aircraft or a modern aircraft, if a fault is found in the aircraft or its engines which, in the opinion of those who are responsible for its airworthiness, makes it a risk to fly, there should be a grounding while investigations are carried out in order to find a solution,' says Holloway.

A Hurricane, seen in the background, piloted by Squadron Leader Mark Long at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire in May 2022

Following Long's tragic death, the livery of one of the BBMF's Spitfires has been repainted to include a tribute to the pilot, whose name has also been added beneath the cockpit 

In a colourised image from the second world war, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane are seen in action. The BBMF fleet includes examples of both aircraft

'The death of Mark Long in the accident shouldn't be a factor in the grounding: the aircraft are either airworthy or they're not airworthy.'

So why ground the entire fleet, which includes not only single-engine Spitfires and Hurricanes, but also a four-engine Lancaster – one of only two airworthy Lancasters in the world – and a twin-engine C47 Dakota?

James Holland, a second world war historian, insists the decision is 'a massive overreaction', not least because there has been no corresponding curb on civilian Spitfire flights.

'Why ground the whole lot?' says Holland. 'They're properly maintained. I can't begin to tell you how many hundreds of Spitfire flights are taking place around Britain, literally every day.

'There's a risk getting on a train, there's a risk getting in a car every day, but you're still more likely to be run over by a bus than you are to come down in a Spitfire.

'Any time you get into a bit of machinery that's 80 years old, there's a risk. The reason they're grounded is because no one is prepared to put their neck on the line and sign it off, because they don't want to get sued for industrial manslaughter three years down the line if something goes wrong again.

'Just because one [Spitfire] crashes doesn't mean the others are dodgy.'

This Avro Lancaster, seen here participating in an air display at Old Warden, Bedfordshire in May 2018, has been part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for more than 50 years

A Hawker Hurricane seen in the air during the second world war in 1942

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14055805/Battle-Britain-Memorial-Flight-never-fly-health-safety-pilot-death.html

Spitfire ML-295 high above the Perthshire countryside

Sqn Ldr Long flying the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire MK356 

Spitfire

Mark Long flying the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire MK356

Spitfire

Exactly 20.531 Spitfires were constructed between 1939 and 1948, with many varying in roles and engine types. 

The aircraft was designed by R. J. Mitchell, and was famed for its role during the Battle of Britain.

Its unique elliptical wings allowed for a perfect partnership of power and speed whilst mid-air. 

Nigel Farage said: ‘You can’t put a price on these planes – they’re such an important part of our history, our heritage, our culture.’

The MK 9 Spitfire ML295 was shot down in July 1944 and was left buried in the ground until 1980. It was returned to England for a £3 million restoration in 2017

Spitfire and Hurricane planes flying in formation over Kent. The aircraft are some of the few remaining and often fly in commemorative ceremonies such as the D-Day celebrations

A 1951 De Havilland. 

Magnificent aircraft that helped see off Hitler's Luftwaffe

Lancaster Bomber

A two-seat Hawker Hurricane

The single-seater, R4118, is the only remaining Hurricane to have taken part in the Battle of Britain in 1940. It shot down five German aircraft. The two-seater, BE505, dates from 1942

This 1942 Hawker Hurricane has two seats allowing it to carry a passenger. It saw action over Dieppe before being taken out service in 1944

14,487 Hurricanes were built from 1937 to 1944

Hawker Hurricanes

Hawker Hurricane

Hawker Hurricanes

More than 14,000 Hurricanes were produced between 1937 and 1944, making it a crucial weapon in the defence of Britain

These Hawker Hurricanes were photographed in flight formation above RAF Northolt in 1940. It was designed by Sydney Camm and was the first monoplane capable of exceeding 300mph

Restored 78-year-old warplane in the air. Can fly 350 mph

The newly restored plane in flight

The restored fighter plane - RAF no V7497

Special two-seat Spitfires

These three Spitfires patrolled the skies over the south coast when the Nazi's tried to wipe out RAF Fighter Command

Hurricanes

The World War II Spitfire looks every inch as majestic as it did when it was key to saving Britain from invasion

These perfectly restored planes looked as iconic as ever as they flew together in memory of all those who lost their lives in the Battle of Britain

Buzzing through the skies, Spitfires  joined by Hurricanes

Both the Spitfire and the Hurricane were powered by the glorious-sounding Rolls Royce Merlin engine 

The Hurricane, pictured, was cheaper to produce and was easier to fly, but was not as aerobatic as its more glamorous stablemate

The Luftwaffe wanted to wipe out Britain's air defences in an effort to launch Operation Sealion 

After failing to achieve air superiority over the Channel, Hitler instead turned his attentions to the Soviet Union 

The RAF launched more than 920 sorties on August 18, 1940 in what was the bloodiest day of the Battle of Britain

Just 600 RAF crew were involved in the more than 900 missions on that one day, when more than 130 British and German aircraft were lost

A total of 18 Spitfires and six Hurricanes took to the skies over Biggin Hill to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Britain's Hardest Day

A stream of Spitfire aircraft fly through the skies over south east England in commemoration of the Battle of Britain

Flames roar from the exhaust of a Hurricane as it's engine is started before it takes off into the air

Dozens of Hurricanes and Spitfires lie parked with their noses to the sky

Two Hurricanes powered by roaring Rolls-Royce Merlin engines

Smoke billows from the exhaust of this Spitfire as its engine is ignited 

Spectators on the ground could follow the course of the battle by watching the vapour trails, pictured, from a patrol of Spitfires

The various aircraft painted these vapour trails which could be seen from the ground as pilots battled for their lives 

Aircraft such as this German dive bomber, pictured, were shot out of the sky and crashed into the ground at high speed 

Some of the aircraft, such as this Messerschmitt were destroyed only yards away from iconic locations in London, pictured

The pilot of this Messerschmitt BF109E managed to crash land after being forced from the sky during the Battle of Britain

This Dornier Do-17 Bomber is being targeted by the Spitfire somewhere over the south east of England during the Battle of Britain

This image shows an RAF Hurricane trailing smoke while it attempts to attack a Heinkel 111 bomber over the English Channel

At the end of the day's battle, the RAF had lost 68 planes. However, the Luftwaffe lost more, with 69 of their aircraft destroyed